Flow Experience in Students: The Role of Academic Motivation and Intellectual Styles

Dijana Ivanišević, Haris Šunje

Abstract


The aim of the study was to examine whether academic motivation and intellectual styles can serve as predictors of Flow experiences in students. The study included 115 students (N = 115) of the Faculty of Education of the University “Džemal Bijedić” in Mostar. Among the respondents, there were 25 men (21.7%) and 90 women (78.3%), and the average age was 20.5 years. In addition to the Soci-odemographic Characteristics Questionnaic re, the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-28), based on the theory of self-determination, the Intellectual Styles Questionnaire (TSI-R2) and the Worrying Study Involvement Questionnaire (WOLF-S) were applied. To test the research hypotheses, hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the contribution of motivational and cognitive variables in explaining flow experiences. The results showed that intrinsic motivation was statistically significantly associated with a higher level of flow experience, while extrinsic motivation and amotivation did not show a significant independent contribution in the regression model. The findings indicate that the quality of motivation, i.e. intrinsic and autonomous involvement in academic activities, is particularly important for understanding the flow experience in students, which is in line with the self-determination theory. Although intellectual styles may have theoretical significance, the results of this study do not confirm their direct predictive contribution to the flow experience. The practical implications of the findings relate primarily to the creation of an educational environment that encourages interest, autonomy, and a sense of competence, while the role of intellectual styles should be further examined in future research.

Keywords


academic motivation; intellectual styles; flow experience; education

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.51558/2490-3647.2026.11.1.953

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